Some 2,500 New Orleans students that have already been assigned a school in the state-run Recovery School District for the fall may get the chance to apply for a seat elsewhere before the school year begins. It's a development that could give pupils a shot at a higher-ranked school but may also cause big headaches for schools trying to nail down a final student count so they can set their budgets for the year.

Students may get to choose another school because the campus they were assigned to will be labeled "academically unacceptable," or failing, by the state as of July 24. The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires that local school districts allow students in failing schools the option of going elsewhere.

The Recovery District hasn't said publicly how many students will be eligible to move, but Kathleen Padian, who heads the Orleans Parish School Board's charter school office, told board members Thursday that state officials expect about 2,500 will have to be given the opportunity to move. The issue surfaced during a School Board committee meeting as Padian briefed board members on conversations with the Recovery District about combining the two districts' enrollment systems.

It's not clear whether Recovery District officials anticipated having to allow students to transfer so late in the summer. The district put a unified enrollment process in place for the first time this year, a step aimed at simplifying things for families in a city where most schools are independent charters that have handled their own enrollment in years past.

In a statement Wednesday, the district said that students in academically unacceptable schools will have until Aug. 15 to put in an application for a transfer and will hear back by Aug. 23. That's after some charter schools in the Recovery District begin classes for the new year.

In an email, Recovery District spokeswoman Kizzy Payton said the district won't be able to confirm how many students are eligible for transfer until the official list of academically unacceptable schools comes out on July 24.